Journalism
by rocketsredglare
Summary: Jack's life as a reporter at 'The New York World.' MODERN DAY. rated for language
1. Chapter 1

**MODERN DAY**

Jack Kelly leaned over the dividing wall between his cubicle and the one next to him. "How's it going?" he asked, reaching his arms over to grab a pencil. The woman sitting at her computer didn't look up at the sound of his voice.

"'There are no recorded records' … I hate repeating like that, what do you think?" she replied, ignoring Jack's question as her eyebrows went together.

"God, are we in Journalism 150 again? You don't start any sentence with 'There are.'"

"Shit, I didn't even notice. This story is the bane of my existence, I'm telling you. Three months. I'm losing my mind," the woman sighed, running her hands through her messy red hair. "Alright," she said, straightening her glasses. "'No incident report records are kept by the security company.' I don't like the double 're' in there."

"Yeah, it sounds weird. Try, 'Pinegate Security keeps no documented records of on site incidents.'"

"Thanks, Jack," she smiled, typing the sentence into her computer. "A couple more edits and I will be done with this son of a bitch."

"Just give me a byline. We all know I pretty much wrote that thing. Hey, do you want to grab a drink with all of us?" Jack gestured behind him to a couple of people gathering their things to get ready to  
leave.

"Thanks, but I can't."

"Liz, come on," Jack groaned. "Why did you have to be an investigative journalist? You should write sports. Sports are so much easier. It happens, jot down some scores and highlights, badda-bing, badda-boom, done."

"Sorry," Liz said, looking up after saving her file. "You know if I don't get this done tonight, Snyder will kill me. Or at least lecture me about disgracing the empire that Pulitzer established 150 years  
ago."

"You suck. See you tomorrow. Text me if you need me to rewrite the rest of that," Jack said as he put on his jacket. With he wink, he was  
gone.

"Will do," Liz murmured to no one as she leaned closer to her computer.

* * *

"Rejected again," David Jacobs, Jack's best friend and layout design editor, laughed as he clapped Jack on the back.

"I wasn't rejected, she's writing a story," Jack said, rolling his eyes and punching the elevator button.

"You know, for an investigative journalist, she really doesn't seem to notice you're obsessed with her," David said. "Isn't it her job to  
notice stuff?"

"Shut up, man," Jack laughed as he moved to make room for more people when the doors opened.

"All I'm saying is that you probably should step up your game."

"Speaking of game, did you see the Yankees last night?"

Jack was on his third beer when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and looked down at the screen that informed him  
he had an E-mail. He opened it up and saw it was Liz's final article.

"Here you go, Kelly. Thought you might like to be the first to read it. Hope you had fun with everyone tonight. Maybe next time? –Liz."

Jack frowned at the message, realizing that there was no chance he could get Liz to come to the bar now. It was already one in the morning. He closed the E-mail and put his phone in his pocket as he raised his hand for another beer.

"What's the story you're working on now about?" Anthony Higgins asked Jack with one eye on the television screen showing Thoroughbred racing highlights. Anthony, better known as Racetrack due to his fascination with gambling and horse racing, was the paper's sports editor.

"It's just a feature story, nothing hard hitting. I've got to go out to this school tomorrow and do some interviews. Some class helped save some building no one gave a shit about with some stupid fundraiser."

"Please tell me that is your opening sentence," David laughed, returning from the bathroom. "We all know you have the best ledes in business."

"Goddamn right," Jack grinned, raising his beer bottle and taking a swig.

"When are you going to make news editor?" Race took his eyes away from the screen and looked at Jack. "You've been there for six years, writing shitty features and going to every news event you could."

"I have no idea, man. That's all I want. To be editor. I want the fancy desk, the fancy business cards and the very small pay raise."

"Don't forget the women," Race said with a wink.

"Yeah, everyone's all up on us newspaper men," Jack laughed, gesturing to some pretty girls he had been trying to flirt with earlier. It was unsuccessful.

"Worked for Clark Kent. And Peter Parker," David quipped.

"I will be the J. Jonah Jameson to your Peter Parker," Jack said to David, who clinked his bottle against Jack's with a laugh.

* * *

"Hey, how was last night?" Liz asked Jack as he walked in and put his briefcase on his desk. Jack held up his mug of coffee with a guilty grin. "Ah, I see."

"Nice front page, by the way," Jack said, dropping his jacket onto his chair as he leaned over to open up his Web browser to check his E-mail. "Pinegate Security definitely hates you."

"Not my fault they don't do their jobs."

"What's on your agenda today?"

"I have to request some open records," Liz sighed, rolling her eyes. "Always fun. You're going to that school today, right?"

"Yeah. I hate features," Jack muttered. Liz gave him an apologetic look before flipping through her notebook with open letter request templates. "Hey, you're not wearing your glasses today. You look  
cute."

"I didn't realize my glasses covered up how adorable I am," Liz replied smoothly as she took a letter out and read it over.

"I didn't say that, did I?" Jack answered. "You look cute with them too."

"I think this is sexual harassment." Liz glanced up and smiled. Jack shrugged, "Doesn't seem like you mind it all that much."

"Kelly, why are you still here? You were supposed to leave 10 minutes ago," John Snyder, the paper's editor in chief, barked out as he walked across the room. "Where's Jacobs?"

"At the desk with his name on it," Jack said, pointing to the back corner. He glanced down at his watch. "I don't have to leave for another 10 minutes," he muttered. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

"I would go anyway. Less time here," Liz said as she picked up her phone. "Hey, I have to be over by the school later today—to give my open records request, you know. Do you want to grab lunch?"

"Ah, I would if I could, but I have to go cover a store opening," Jack groaned, hating the sound of the trivial story. "Dinner tonight?"

"Alright, sure. Should I send an E-mail out?"

Jack frowned, then turned away, pretending he needed to grab something off his desk. He took a swig of coffee and put on his jacket. "Sure,  
if you want to."

"Will do. See you later."

Jack walked out of the newsroom, suddenly in a bad mood. Why was it so hard to ask Liz out? It's like she deflected all of his attempts, whether it be with work or casually inviting other people along. Jack was halfway in the elevator when he decided it was time to, as David had said, step up his game. He gave an apologetic wave to the people in the elevator and headed back to the newsroom. He went to Liz's desk; she looked up, smiling and confused. "Hey, Jack, I thought you had –"

"—I think it should just be us tonight," Jack interrupted. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, no, definitely, that's … that's great. Okay. Yeah," Liz fumbled with her words, clearly flattered and caught off guard by Jack's proposal.

"Great. I'll meet you at Maclaren's at 8:00."

* * *

**Please review! I'm really excited about this story. Hope you enjoyed it, tell me what you think in the reviews.**

**-K**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Jack clipped a visitor's badge onto his lapel as he walked through the hallway. He looked at the walls, decorated with inspirational posters and semi-creepy murals. Every middle school hallway was the same. It made him feel oddly comfortable despite never having been inside this building before.

He continued walking, looking at room numbers to try to find his bearings. A girl holding a wooden bathroom pass appeared in the hallway, and Jack nodded at her. She glanced away quickly and hurried by him. Jack supposed he did look out of place in the hallway wearing a gray suit and being a 28 year old man.

After a few detours, Jack found the correct classroom and knocked on its open door. The sixth graders looked up from their workbooks and the teacher got up from her desk.

"You must be the reporter. Hi, I'm Jane Cooper," she said, shaking his hand enthusiastically. She was a fairly young teacher who still seemed genuinely excited to be working with the kids. Jack wondered if she realized how much money she actually made a year yet.

"Jack Kelly," Jack said, nodding. He waved at the kids, who stared blankly back at him. "So, uh," he began, taking out his Moleskine notebook, "who wants to tell me about the building you saved?"

"I will," a tiny girl in the front row said, raising her hand. Jack looked her over, seeing plenty of clichés forming in her personality as her education continued. He smiled bemusedly, nodding as a signal for her to continue. She explained everything Jack needed to know, and a few others kids raised their hands to speak when he asked follow up questions.

"Alright, I think that's about it," Jack said twenty minutes later. "Let me just get a picture of you guys?" he asked, looking at Ms. Cooper. "For posterity, " he added with a wink. He took his camera out of his bag (David liked to call it a 'Murse.' Jack liked to ignore that), and snapped a few shots. "Great. Anything else you want to tell me?" he said as the kids walked back to their seats.

"Hey, what's this say?" Jack turned around and saw a boy looking at the notebook that he had laid on the desk.

"Everything you guys told me," Jack said, removing his notebook from the boy's hands, feeling inexplicably violated. "It's in shorthand. I think I'm just going to go—" Jack began to say to Ms. Cooper, trying to move to the door.

"—Oh, no wait. The kids would love to ask you about being a reporter," she said with such excitement that Jack couldn't say no. "Casey and Mark do the morning announcements. They're our very own Katie Couric and Brian Williams."

"Oh, is Casey transferring schools soon?" Jack laughed at his own joke, but he was the only one. Blank stares filled the room. "Alright," Jack said, clearing his throat. "What do you guys what to know?" He leaned against the desk, feeling as if he were in a teen movie and rather enjoying it.

"What do you write about?"

"I usually write something called 'Feature' stories. They're stories that focus on something like this, a person or a group of people. News stories tend to be shorter and just list facts. My pieces develop the facts into a nice, long story."

"Why don't you report the news?"

"I do that sometimes. It just depends on what my editor assigns me," Jack answered, no longer feeling cool. "I've done news stories," he added defensively. "I was Editor in Chief at Northwestern, okay?"

"Why aren't you on TV?"

"I'm a newspaper man," Jack began. "Broadcast is a lot different than print media." Jack left it at that, no longer wanting to explain his job or the different sorts of media that could end his career within the next decade. He checked his watch and said, "Oh, wow, I've got to meet Jimmie Olsen back at the office."

"Who is that?"

"He's my photographer," Jack returned easily. He waved, telling the class to look for their picture and write-up in the paper tomorrow. "Ms. Cooper," he said, shaking her hand and moving to the door.

"Nice meeting you, Clark Kent," she winked as she closed the door. Impressed she caught his 'Superman' reference, Jack adjusted his bag on his shoulder and began to search for the exit. Normally, he would have asked her out or at least slipped her his card, but today was different. Today, he was going on a date with Liz.

And Jack was really excited.

Jack hopped onto the subway to cover the store opening across town. It was a standard story, nothing exciting happened. A few celebrities showed up for the event since it was a high-end, supposedly quirky store that charged 300 dollars for an ugly patterned sweater. Jack chatted up a few people to get quotes for his story. He was so bored, tired of the same quotes, tired of the same people. He wanted to do real journalism. Features like this were just ridiculous fluff pieces, and he could do more. Maybe it was time to talk to Snyder again. Jack felt like an intern—he worked hard all of his adult life to have a prestigious journalism career, and here he was doing tiny write-ups about middle school classes and store openings. It just didn't seem right. Or fair. Jack knew feeling sorry for himself didn't solve anything, but it certainly motivated him.

Jack looked down at his watch after the opening party had fizzled out. He would barely have time to get home, take a shower and change. He shook hands with the owner, congratulating her on her new store before hurrying out of the building. Luckily, the subway did not take too long to appear. Settling down into his plastic seat, Jack began composing his two stories on his laptop to help distract his mind from the looming excitement of the date.

* * *

"Hey, sorry I'm a couple of minutes late," Jack said as he slid into the booth across from Liz. He was out of breath and trying to take off his corduroy jacket. "I ran home to change, and the subway took forever. Anyway, hi."

"Hi, yourself," Liz smiled, sitting up straighter in the booth. Jack noticed she had changed out of her typical suit into a nice blue dress. Jack leaned back against the leather back of his side of the booth and stretched his arms out across the top.

"You're really lucky to be on a date with me right now," Jack told her with a cocky grin.

"How godlike of you to say," Liz said wryly as the waiter came over to take their drink orders.

"I'm serious though, I'm the best date ever," Jack continued after they had ordered their drinks.

"Well, you've never been on a date with me."

"Until now."

Liz looked up at Jack over her menu. "Don't do that," she said with a little amusement in her voice.

"Do what?" Jack asked, suddenly feeling very awkward.

"That. This," Liz answered, using her hand to gesture to all of Jack. "Whatever that bravado thing is you're doing, stop it."

"What?" Jack chuckled nervously, unsure of what to say.

"I'm just saying, I agreed to a date with Jack, not with whatever this façade is."

Jack was relieved that the waiter returned with their drinks at that precise moment. He took a big gulp of his rum and coke while trying to calm down. Jack had always acted like a jackass on dates, and it always worked. Looking back, Jack realized he never really dated anyone he knew before, just girls he had picked up while working stories or at bars. Liz actually knew him, so he couldn't lie about that sweet motorcycle he pretended to have.

"Alright. Sorry. I'm just a little nervous," Jack said quietly. Liz looked up, slightly puzzled.

"Nervous? It's just me, Jack."

"Yeah, but—" Jack paused, biting his lip. Liz blinked expectantly, waiting for him to finish his sentence. "Nothing, nevermind. Sorry. How was your day?"

"Already we're talking about work?" Liz smiled over her vodka water.

"No, we're talking about your day. Because I'm genuinely interested in it," Jack answered as he loosened his tie.

Liz smiled, clearly surprised by this response. "Alright, well. People were a little testy when I asked for the records, and—well, you know how it goes. Tell me about the school stuff."

"It's always the same story," Jack shrugged. "Some kids do a nice thing, and we all feel good about it, but realize there's something inside ourselves that's missing."

"You really think that?"

"What else is there to think? I mean, we don't report about that cocaine arrest—"

"—Yes, we do—"

"—We write about the simple things, the natural things, so that New York City can still feel something."

"Huh, I never really thought about it like that," Liz said, a slight frown on her face. "You don't think we report for people who like seeing nice things other people do though? You think New York City is just one big vacuum, void of feeling?"

"Okay, maybe I'm being melodramatic," Jack grinned. "I'm just tired of writing such feature stories, you know? And Snyder hates me, so I won't make editor til he dies. I'm just tired of breaking my back for him and not getting anything in return," Jack sighed, cringing as he used the cliche.

"Snyder hates everyone, don't take it personally."

* * *

"Most embarrassing moment," Liz said, walking next to Jack, her hand loosely intertwined with his. Her heels made a steady sound on the pavement while they walked home. It was a long walk to Liz's apartment, but they didn't want the night to end just yet.

"I was 12, and I was walking across the stage to accept an award. I tripped over my own feet, and then I just kept slipping when I tried to get up. The whole school saw. It was rough. What about you?"

"I was doing my first story back in college, and I went into this guy's office, feeling badass, and I had my skirt tucked into my underwear. I noticed it when I got back to my dorm."

"That only happens in the movies," Jack laughed, feeling pleasantly warm along with his comfortable alcoholic buzz.

"It happens in my life too, " Liz sighed dramatically then giggled. "This is nice, I like this."

"I like it too," Jack said, looking at the street sign. "About five more blocks. You sure you don't want a cab for the last leg of the way?"

"I'm sure, come on," Liz answered, pulling him behind her. "This is fun. Why didn't we do this before?" she asked, turning around to walk backwards while looking at Jack.

"I don't know," Jack grinned. "Because you never realized I wanted to do this."

Liz stopped walking. "What?"

"You had no idea that I've had a crush on you since the day you started working at the paper?"

"No," Liz said, surprised. Then her eyes lit up, "Oh, my God! We're Jim and Pam!"

"Not really," Jack laughed. "You're way cuter than Pam," he said, walking forwards again while Liz ducked her head as she fell into step beside him.

"Well, why didn't you just ask me out then?"

"When you first came into the office, you were dating that private detective and it seemed like it was kind of serious."

"Jonathan," Liz nodded. "Okay, but why didn't you ask me out after that?"

"I did, many a time," Jack replied easily. "You always invited other people, or had to finish a story." Liz pulled her hand from Jack's to cover her mouth, shocked by this revelation.

"Oh, I didn't know you were asking me out. I didn't think you would want to go out with me. I'm sorry," she groaned. "I'm so bad at stuff like this."

"You're doing fine right now," Jack grinned. He could see her street coming up and slowed his stride down just a little. Liz looked up sheepishly.

"I wish I had known, we could have been going on dates so long ago."

"I like how this one right now, in reality, is going," Jack said as he checked the crosswalk for cars then continued walking. "Here we are," Jack muttered once they were at the stoop of Liz's apartment building.

"Here we are," Liz repeated a little awkwardly. She swung his hand by their hips before Jack lightly took it out of her grip and brushed her hair out of her face with a soft touch. He saw her lean forward just a little bit and her eyelashes fluttered. He placed a light kiss on her lips before backing away.

"I should go," he murmured, hand still on her face, noses touching.

"You could come inside," she answered, her voice equally quiet. "Do you want to come inside?"

"I want to, but I probably shouldn't," he whispered before kissing her again. "I've got to be at work early in the morning." Liz's eyes opened up and she took a step onto the stoop.

"Right, work," she said, laughing a little embarrassedly as Jack took a step up next to her.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just the subway takes 40 minutes to get to Brooklyn from here, and I've got to be in early."

"You could stay here," Liz suggested in a rush.

"And go to work in jeans? That'd go over well," he laughed. Leaning forward one last time, Jack put both his hands on Liz's cheeks and gave her a good night kiss.

"See you in the morning," Jack tossed over his shoulder, waving as he went. He was proud he had fought the urge to go upstairs. It hadn't been that hard to do, which surprised him. As he sat on the subway, Jack realized that he didn't go upstairs because he wanted this to turn into something serious, and to be more than just a fling. Settling back into his plastic seat, Jack closed his eyes and smiled contently, proud of his tiny epiphany.

* * *

"So, how did it go?" David asked Jack in the elevator the next morning. Jack looked at his feet, grinning sheepishly.

"Pretty great, actually," he answered. "I had a lot of fun." He paused a moment, waiting for the man to get off the elevator at the third floor. "Hey, uh, Dave?"

"Yeah, man?"

"Do you think I should talk to Snyder again?"

"About being News editor?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know Denton's got to be retiring soon, and I might as well put my name in the running, right?"

"That makes sense. I think you just have to approach it the right way."

"And how do I do that?"

"Be anyone but you," David said as the elevator pinged, the doors opening. "See you for lunch?"

"Yeah. See you," Jack waved, as they walked off the elevator in separate directions. Jack saw Liz typing away on her computer while she talked on the phone.

"… Yes, sir. I understand that, sir. … No, sir. That's not slander. … Yes, I know what slander is, I don't think you know what slander is though. … No, sir. You're actually accusing me of libel. … Not particularly, I spoke to you directly and this information was given to me … I showed you my press pass, you knew I was the press, so there were no false pretenses. … Okay, I am sure our team of lawyers looks forward to hearing from your lawyer." She hung up the phone, putting her head in her hands.

"Hey," Jack said lightly, leaning over the back of her chair and putting his face next to hers. "What was that about?" He gave her a light kiss on the cheek before standing up. Liz turned her chair around and sighed.

"Just being threatened to be sued for libel."

"Pinegate?"

"Pinegate."

"Sorry. Can I help?"

"No," Liz sighed. "He doesn't have a case. I did everything legally and I have notes about it all. I just wish nearly every goddamn piece didn't have to end like this."

"Don't worry about it, you're fine," Jack said, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek again. She put her hand on his face, gently pushing him away.

"Jack," Liz whispered with a smile. "Come on, this is our place of business, these are our colleagues. Let's keep it professional."

"Oh, right," Jack said, standing up quickly. "Sorry, I didn't even- I just- yeah, okay. Yeah, you're right. Professional. I'm all about that."

"Thanks," Liz said. They both looked at the floor awkwardly. Jack adjusted the shoulder strap on his bag before saying, "Right, well. Okay, I have to, uh, yeah."

"Hey, I liked your two stories in the paper this morning. They were really nice," Liz blurted suddenly. Jack grinned, feeling relieved and less awkward. He was always confident when his writing was mentioned.

"Thanks. I'm going to, uh," Jack said, gesturing quickly to his desk. "Yeah."

Liz nodded, smiling as she turned back around and began to work again. Jack took a couple steps backwards before moving to his cubicle, one over. He dropped into his seat, confused by what just happened. He looked down at his screen and saw an instant message from Liz.

**LWeaver:** Sorry if I was abrasive or weird. I just don't want office talk starting. You know how everyone is here.

**JKelly**: Definitely. Especially since we're right across from the gossip column. Lunch?

**LWeaver**: Can't today. Wish I could, tons of work to do though.

Jack closed out of the IM box, having nothing else to say. He was disappointed that today wasn't working out like the end of a romantic comedy. Not that he expected it to, but he definitely wanted it to. But he understood Liz's point. If they were too obvious too soon, it would cause a lot of talk, and they would have to report it to Human Resources and just be bored by the same conversations with their coworkers. It was way too early at this point.

**LWeaver**: By the way, I had a lot of fun last night. We should do it again soon.

**JKelly**: Pick a time.

Jack leaned back, his mood lifted slightly. He opened his Internet browser and sent an E-mail to Snyder's assistant, Dan Wiesel.

Jack requested a meeting with Snyder to discuss "certain topics." He anxiously opened his desk drawer and grabbed his portfolio. Once he glanced through it, Jack opened up a few files on his computer and hit "Print."

As he slid a sheet of paper into a plastic sleeve, Jack wondered if he was updating his portfolio for his position as News Editor, or if he was preparing for a new job.

* * *

**Please review! Tell me what you think and if you caught the 'Bored to Death' reference.**

**Thanks for all your reviews, they seem really positive and that makes me happy.**

**I just want to add that this won't be a love story. The situation with Liz will happen (this chapter will probably have the most of that), but it's going to focus a lot on Jack's career rather than his love life. **

**I'm excited about this story/using a new penname, so if you guys could spread the word about it? Or something, I don't know, is that lame to ask? Sorry, forget I asked. I'm so rude. **

**But do review?**

**-K**

** - ps- If you want to be my Beta Reader, let me know?**


End file.
